Joan Rivers (1933-2014)

Can we all just agree, Hollywood, that we've lost enough major names this year?  I know that 2009 is generally considered the Summer of the Dead Celebrity, but honestly, I don't know that I've ever felt like so many legends have left us as have this year, and sadly we add another name to that list today.  Joan Alexandra Molinsky, known to the world as Joan Rivers, died today at the age of 81.

Rivers was one-of-a-kind, and a taste not enjoyed by everyone.  Frequently bawdy and constantly willing to go to places that comedians, and particularly female comedians, feared to tread, she was a pioneer and once pointed out that despite her fame, part of the excellence she achieved was not being "part of the party."  Unlike most comedians who suddenly were incapable of making fun of their newfound celebrity friends, Rivers was always edgy, always had a sense of danger about her-you never knew where she was going to go next.

She was also an extremely honest personality.  She frequently talked about her struggles with setbacks in her career and her strive to stay relevant.  She could make you laugh about a celebrity you loved, and make you cringe over a celebrity you hated.  "It" is a hard to define quantity, but Joan Rivers might have been "it" personified-this was a woman that was bound to be a star, by any means necessary.

And thankfully she did it by making us laugh.  Let's not let the reality shows and the Celebrity Apprentice fool us-she was a comic legend far before she descended into the cable nebulus of lesser beings.  She famously was denied the Tonight Show, and then went on to become the first woman to get her own late night talk show (to this day, this is shamefully rare and only a few women can dare to claim they have done the same).  She infamously was banned by Carson and had to wander the dark of a Hollywood that adored the King of Late Night, despite him being like a father to her.  She pioneered the Red Carpet treatment of the Oscars that Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic have used to further their stardom.  She even was a Tony nominee, persistently complaining about how she lost to Diana Rigg (she wasn't afraid to want the win, which she did at least get at the Emmy Awards).

And though she's gone, she's certainly going to live on in the acts of hundreds of women who idolized her and walked in her tread.  Roseanne Barr, Margaret Cho, Wanda Sykes, Ellen Degeneres, Sarah Silverman, Chelsea Handler, and Kathy Griffin wouldn't be where they are today were it not for Joan Rivers, and for that we should all be thankful.  Joan actually got my favorite line of hers at Griffin's expense.  She was being roasted by Comedy Central, and Kathy was the roast master.  Rivers got up to the podium without missing a beat, slapped Griffin, and said, "Kathy Griffin-you stole my act, you stole my gays, and you stole the face of the Burger King."  Griffin howled with laughter, just like the rest of us did whenever Joan was at the podium.

Kathy Griffin Takes the Grammy!

For everyone else, the headline winner of last night's Grammy Awards was surely Daft Punk, but for me, it was a five-time loser redhead who FINALLLY took home her Grammy Award.  You can see the spectacular Kathy Griffin accept her award here (with props to some of the people who truly got her there).  Congrats Kathy, from one of your ardent and loving gays.

Everybody's Linking for the Weekend

We haven't done a roundup of different stories and links of the week for a while, so I figured it was time for another.  Here goes...

In Entertainment...

Grammy Nominee Kathy Griffin

Grammys: Obviously, the biggest awards news this week (in the overall world of Entertainment) were the Grammy nominations which were handed out yesterday.  Jay-Z, Lorde, Daft Punk, and Macklemore will all be names you'll see in the headlines, but I typically like to head to the Spoken Word categories here, as they're my favorite (I love the fact that Hillary Clinton somehow has a Grammy Award).  Plus, how often can you hear everyone be surprised that Lorde missed out on Best New Artist or how artist insert-indy-musician-you've-never-hear-of-here didn't make it, even though they like all of the actual nominees (that's a major awards pet peeve of mine-you can't complain about who should make it unless you point out who shouldn't make it, and so many people, especially Entertainment Weekly, do that).

In the Spoken Word Album, we had a lot more comedians and a lot fewer politicians than usual.  Stephen Colbert, Carol Burnett, Billy Crystal, and David Sedaris all made the list, leaving only legendary folk singer Pete Seeger to fill the non-comedic slot.  Colbert and of course Seeger have won Grammys in the past, and considering how sentimental they get in this category, my gut says that the legendary Burnett has to have the upper-hand (though Crystal has hosted the Grammy Awards three times, so he could be a threat as well).  The Best Comedy Album seems a bit redundant after that lineup, but no matter how good Craig Ferguson, Ron White, Tig Notaro, or Bob Saget may be in their respective works (I haven't listened to any of them), my heart belongs to Kathy Griffin, who scored her sixth consecutive Grammy nomination this year-hasn't she earned the trophy by acclimation at this point?!?

Okay, one more Grammy thought-anyone in love with the fact that "Brave" and "Roar" are competing for Best Pop Performance, considering all the allegations that Katy Perry copied Sara Bareilles?  Awesome-can't wait for that acceptance speech.

Hollywood Reporter: The Hollywood Reporter did a fascinating article about the process to select films for the National Film Registry.  Film preservation has been on my mind for most of the week, as we'll see in the next article, and the fact that we didn't get our annual meeting and discussion for this panel is just another reminder of how the government shutdown shouldn't be forgotten...

Library of Congress: This is a long one, so I don't expect you to read it all in one sitting, but it's still very much worth the investigation.  The Library of Congress has put out a comprehensive overview of the "Survival of American Silent Feature Films from 1912-1929."  It's a sad reminder of how many films from the era are considered lost, and how the LoC should continue to receive major funding to preserve our cultural heritage.  Arts preservation and art education are huge pet issues of mine, and I become so infuriated when I read articles like this and see how much we're continuing to lose by not having the studios and yes, the government, taking a stand to preserve the art of cinema.

In Contention: In one of the most stunning developments so far in the Oscar race, Man of Steel, Oz: the Great and Powerful, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, all major threats in my book, failed to make the bake-off for Visual Effects.  For those of you who don't know, some categories (like Visual Effects, Makeup, and the Doc/Short/Foreign Film categories) do bake-offs where they select a finalist group of nominees.  This year, in addition to likely nominees The Hobbit, Gravity, Iron Man 3, and Pacific Rim, we also have Oblivion, Thor: The Dark World, The Lone Ranger, Elysium, Star Trek into Darkness, and World War Z.  The OVP obsessive in me notes that I've seen only five of these (though I have every intention of seeing Pacific Rim and The Hobbit before the nominations are announced), and I think that it's a battle between Elysium and Oblivion for the final nomination, though considering the craziness thus far in this category, I'd almost believe any of these six (wouldn't World War Z be such a treat to be called Oscar-nominated?).  For those of you who have seen most (or possibly all?) of them, what do you think will make/should make the Top 5?

In Politics...

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)

New York Times: The NYT did a fascinating profile on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who is leading the fight in the Senate for a landmark bill regarding sexual assaults and their chain of prosecution in the military, and has become one of (if not the most) significant up-and-comers in the Democratic Party.  It seems impossible to imagine that either she or Amy Klobuchar isn't on the national ticket in 2016 if Hillary takes a pass.

Politico: Proving that yes, indeed, the two parties have different attitudes toward women, we go from a profile of one of several major rising female stars in the Democratic Party to easily the most insulting and quite frankly one of the most disturbing stories of the week: the fact that John Boehner has to run a "sensitivity training" for House Republicans to ensure that he doesn't have another Todd Akin situation.  The fact that they said to "de-emphasize" social issues shows why the Republicans continue to have a problem attracting female voters.  While yes, many female voters put more weight to issues such as health care, the economy, and job creation, issues the GOP is very willing to debate, avoiding an issue in a campaign is always a bad idea; if Boehner thinks that Democrats won't harp on someone who has a draconian view on birth control or women's reproductive rights, he is sadly mistaken and this gender divide will continue to grow.

Roll Call: Roll Call did a profile of something very rare in the GOP today-a battle to be the establishment candidate, a war being raged in Alaska, where Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell and former Bush administration official Dan Sullivan are both trying to get a leg-up in the race to become the establishment candidate.  The GOP is clearly worried (and they should be) that Treadwell and Sullivan will split the more "mainstream" Republican votes in a state that already values Libertarianism to a strong degree, forging the way for Tea Party candidate Joe Miller to take the nomination.  Miller, who lost to a write-in campaign in 2010, is wildly unpopular in the state and his nomination would be a god send for Democrats number-crunching in their race to hold the Senate, as Miller's nomination would make a second term for Sen. Mark Begich (D) a near certainty in what would otherwise be a rough race.

Just One More...

Audra McDonald and Carrie Underwood in The Sound of Music

YouTube: I sadly forgot to tape NBC's wildly successful stage-telling of The Sound of Music, but that doesn't mean I didn't watch the clip that mattered the most.  I actually really like Carrie Underwood (as a singer-I've so far not been impressed as an actress but didn't see this musical so I shall reserve judgment) and I adore Laura Benanti, but in my world Audra McDonald towers above them all.  Click the link for proof why with "Climb Ev'ry Mountain."

Darren Criss + Oscar Trivia = Marry Me Please!

I don't always catch Kathy Griffin's (whom I adore) talk show, but last night she had my beloved Darren Criss on, so I couldn't miss it.

And I have to say, I didn't think I could love Darren Criss more, but when Kathy was trying to stump him by asking what Lily Tomlin was nominated for an Oscar for, and he responded, matter-of-factly, "Nashville, and she lost to Shampoo," my heart fluttered.  Curly-haired, voice-of-an-angel with the crazy amazing hazel eyes knows Oscar trivia?  You can't even fathom the smile that brings to my face.  Just for fun, below is a picture with Lily in her Oscar dress, and two of Darren, just because.

Don't you just love Lily Tomlin-how many people wear a tiara to the Oscars?